


How many bars do you get in space?

by TimTheToaster (tabletoptime)



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: JayTim Week, M/M, a little angsty but mostly just boyfriends on the SPACEphone, i heard "space" and decided to do that x2, so we have literal SPACE and also metaphorical space, some light swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:22:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24575257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tabletoptime/pseuds/TimTheToaster
Summary: Jason had been waiting for his phone to ring for the past twenty minutes.It was a shame Tim was too much of a public figure to just drop everything for a couple of years in space, but Kori had asked for Jason’s help in freeing Tamaran and a few of its colonies from invading oppressors, and he wanted to do this with his friends.He just wished it hadn’t meant leaving Tim behind.
Relationships: Tim Drake/Jason Todd
Comments: 6
Kudos: 109





	How many bars do you get in space?

Jason had been waiting for his phone to ring for the past twenty minutes.

While it was still within the allotted “Tim often forgets clocks and things other than work exist” hour, he was starting to get antsy. They had both been too busy to really talk for the better part of a month now, and while they were both more than independent enough to subsist on text conversations for a while, Jason had really started to miss just sitting down and  _ talking  _ to his boyfriend. 

It was a shame Tim was too much of a public figure to just drop everything for a couple of years in space, but Kori had asked for Jason’s help in freeing Tamaran and a few of its colonies from invading oppressors, and he  _ wanted _ to do this with his friends. It was the right thing to do, and there was certainly something freeing about the ruthless expectations out here. Jason was pushed to the limits of his skills every day, in battle and in planning, helping to piece together not just a rebellion but the reinstatement of the rightful royal faction across star systems. He was growing in leaps and bounds, learning alien combat styles and weaponry, and stepping up not as a crime lord or just the most dangerous bastard in the room, but as a  _ commander _ .

He just wished it hadn’t meant leaving Tim behind.

They had talked about it, before Jason had given Kori an answer, Tim going so far as to draw up a chart so they could compare pros, cons, and possible workarounds or alternatives. The chart had been more for Tim, and while Jason wasn’t  _ happy _ about his boyfriend talking himself into letting Jason go on a space crusade for an indeterminate period of time, he had to admit Tim had brought up some good points.

So now he was in space, the way he had been for the past four months and likely would be for the foreseeable future, and very much wishing his boyfriend would hurry up and  _ call him already. _

The wizardry it took to get them a functional intergalactic connection was secretly one of Jason’s favourite things about being friends with a cool space warrior-princess, since it meant even if it wasn’t really the same, he didn’t have to give up his home, not wholly at least.

Though really, as he settled further into his role and work out on the moons of Midnir V, Jason wondered if Gotham really was his home anymore. Here he was so  _ useful _ , and there was no moral dilemmas or traitorous family, just the enemy and the goal and Jason was really damn good at it. 

His phone ringing cut his thoughts off, before he could get  _ too _ maudlin, and he swiped it open to the video call.

Tim’s tired, grinning face was there to greet him, and all of the air  _ wooshed _ out of Jason at once, even as a knot unfurled in his chest. He missed him so damn much.

“Hey there, stranger,” Tim said, still smiling. “Fancy seeing you here.”

Jason snorted. “Oh yeah, a totally unforeseeable turn of events, me answering my phone. Must be some great serendipity, or fate, or something.”

“Well I know I could sure do worse, in terms of fated loves, than a gorgeous badass with a penchant for overrated literature.” 

“Oh no, we are not having this debate again just because you’re a heathen who doesn’t read. Yeah, yeah, the education system and vigilantism drained you of any time or passion for reading fiction and now your position as a corporate overlord doesn’t need books for anything more than decoration.” Jason waved his way through the familiar arguments. “I will get you to appreciate at least  _ one _ classic author if it kills me.”

Tim’s head tipped in frame, like he’d just thought of something. “How many books were you able to take with you, anyways? I know you left pretty much everything that’s still at my place. Is that why you want me to read them so badly, because you can’t?”

Perceptive little shit. 

Jason normally would have shrugged and kissed Tim to distract him or at least delay the conversation, but all he could do was try to look casual. “I have some. Not as many as I’d like, sure, but my grasp of written Tamaranean is pretty solid so I can read their stuff whenever I find some. The local fiction is… very cultural. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if something is supposed to be romance or horror.”

“Maybe it’s both. Romantic horror is a thing here too, though it’s usually restricted to, you know. Monsterfuckers. Which, if that’s your thing, I’m not judging, but it would certainly make things more complicated. I refuse to have a threeway with Croc.”

The laugh was out of him before he had even fully processed Tim’s words. “Jesus Christ, Timbers. That’s not a mental image I needed.”

“I’m just saying! You do you, but I won’t do him.” His grin faded a touch, and something sad crept back into his eyes. “I really miss you.”

Any humour died in Jason’s throat. They did their best to keep spirits up, but most calls cycled back to this point eventually. There wasn’t anything either of them could do about it. Jason was far enough out at this point it would take the better part of a month to get back, even if he wasn’t in the middle of a revolution. They’d be lucky to see each other again this year.

“Read for me,” he said, impulsively.

Tim blinked, startled. “What, now?”

“No,” Jason shook his head. “When you miss me and we can’t talk. Read something, anything, and record it. I can receive files even when I’m too busy to sit down and call, and I’ll do the same for you. Just… So we have something that’s not creepy surveillance footage to hold on to.”

The sadness in Tim’s gaze had melted away into something sharp and warm, and it made Jason feel soft and stripped bare. Even half a galaxy away, Tim looking at him and  _ seeing _ him made Jason feel safe in a way nothing else ever managed to. The closest he got was mid-battle, Roy and Kori at his side, raining down hell on their enemies. 

He kinda preferred Tim’s version of it, though he would eat Kori’s cooking before ever admitting that.

“I can certainly do that. Any recommendations on where I should start?”

At the prompting, Jason launched into an elaborate explanation of which classical authors were really just massive racists, misogynists, or otherwise just pricks, and which ones were worth reading for their progressive ideas or their prose, or just to spite Tim’s old teachers who would hate them on principal. He was pretty sure he’d given this speech near-verbatim before, but Tim watched him attentively and that feeling of warm safety never abated, so he kept talking. 

This wasn’t the same as actually being with Tim, but it was something. And both of them were in the habit of making do with whatever they could get. 

And Jason knew down to his bones that they’d see each other again, some day.

**Author's Note:**

> And here's Day 6! Where's Day 5 you ask? In my drafts because editing is Hard and also because I got Several Types of distracted yesterday. So I'll be posting the Day 5 fill later today in penance :p
> 
> I couldn't decide whether I wanted to write about Space Adventures or long-distance boyfriends and then I remembered that I could do both because the power is in my hands! (cue evil laughter) This one is pretty short I will admit, but I really dig the vibe and what I managed to get across and I think writing more might have risked ruining that. 
> 
> Also, the title is just what I couldn't help thinking about while writing this.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy, and have that you're having a wonderful weekend!


End file.
